Posted on December 29, 2012, updated February 10, 2013
I ordered seeds well in advance, for a friend to receive them before her flight to visit me.

I contact the vendor to confirm that the seeds would arrive on time.

I was told that they had already been shipped and to await an early delivery.

The seeds did not arrive. I contact Ashvini and he requested a new mailing address. I provided him with three options, depending on shipping time.

To cover my bases, I also opened a Dispute on PayPal, which I had used to pay for the seeds (if you don't open a Dispute within 30 or 45 days of the order, you lose the option to open one at all). I made it clear that I did not want to raise the dispute to a Claim; that I really just wanted to receive the seeds, and was simply covering my bases (since I had since read on this website about other negative experiences).

Within 24 hours I had a refund in my PayPal account.

So, all-in-all, I have no monetary grievance with this vendor, but the whole thing was a hassle and I wasted a lot of internet time (which I have little access to).

On February 10th, 2013, benbowman changed the rating from negative to positive and added the following:

The seeds arrived! Albiet late. Ashvini even refunded my purchase pending arrival, and I am now resubmitting payment. I recommend ordering with a healthy delivery window.

This is both a positive feedback and a public apology. It took about a month to recieve the seeds I had ordered and after reading the negative comments here I was certain that I had been ripped off, and sent a scathing email to Gautam Global. As it turns out I recieved my order today, and it was complete. I will be ordering from them again soon.

I was a bit concerned when ordering, as im aware of negative feedback in the past.
right or wrong negative fedback stick about.
but i decided to make the order anyway
the proces as easy, unlike trading internationally a few years back. ecrater and paypal streamlined the experience.
the seeds arrived about 1 month after ordering, which i think is fair timeframe for special seeds
they have tracking on orders as well and communication with them was relativley straightforward
the seed looks fresh, plump and relatively clean.
there are 16 species. most long lived seed, with about 5 that might suffer if old.
i am planting them out ASAP and may review their viability.
so far, i have no hesitation dealing with this vendor in 2009, and will place another order soon.

in contrast this is the ONLY positive vendor ive yet had out of India. Most simply do not reply to my requests, and others send me material (not necessarily seed) that is SO faulty, that it beggars me to think how they could send it with a straight face. I would be too embarrased to give it away!

I have ordered seed for many years with Gautam Global. I am a wholesale seedling grower and I understand the seasonal difficulties of the business. Sometimes it just takes time for seed to mature for collection, cleaning and processing for shipment. Prior to shipment,phytosanitary and CITES requirements must be fulfilled. When seeds arrive to the destination they must be inspected by the receiving country's agricultural inspection authority to ensure they are free of pathogens and not concealing any contraband. If they are subject to quarantine there will be a delay.

As you can see, seed shipments can take a lot of time. I am thoroughly satisfied with Gautam Global and the product they send, I will continue to use them as a quality source of seed.

Excellent selection of seeds.Moringa seeds I purchased last year sprouted real fast. Would like to buy more this year.

Note from the Garden Watchdog Editors:

The comments posted by "JimMathews" and "AmyLin" were posted from the same computer. It is the policy of the Watchdog that users cannot create multiple identities in order to inflate a company's rating, nor can a company pose as its own customer in order to leave feedback. This rating was changed to neutral so that it would not affect the overall rating given by customers.

The service provided by the company is very poor.I live in the same city (DEHRADUN) and asked Mr Gautam for a list of seeds, the person at first did not replied. I then tried to contact the person by phone but the phone number mentioned in the website was techniquelly incorrect as well as incorrect by location. I finally planned to directly go to the concerned shop/office and searched for an hour. I finally reached the address given in the website. I was astonished that the address (34 old cannought place Dehradun) belonged to an advocate. I finally with great difficulty got the concerned person mobile number and contacted him .He asked me to send him a mail.I asked him for a list of seeds. They did not had most of them although they have mentioned them on their website. After this i asked for the location for their shop so that i can go directely and buy the seeds but the person did not replied to any of my mails.

On May 21st, 2005, anshuman added the following:

MY ADVICE TO ALL IS DON'T BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS COMPANY. I BET YOU WILL HAVE A VERY BAD EXPERIANCE. THESE TYPE OF COMPANIES SHOULD BE BANNED AS THEY BRING BAD NAME TO THE COUNTRY.On May 24th, 2005, anshuman changed the rating from negative to positive and added the following:

I am in continous contact with Mr Gautam and have found him to be very friendly.earlier I misinterpreted this person I will soon be buying some seeds / plants from him. On May 21, 2005, Gautam Global responded with:

"

On May 22, 2005 1:51 AM, Gautam Global added:

Mr.Jakhmola, has a very torrid imagination.
We replied to his e-mails and also informed him that the enquired seeds are not available at this point of time.
We have a policy of checking our stocks and then only confirming availablity.
Also he was looking for some plants, we informed him that we are not a plant nursery.
It is very unethical, juvenile and delinquent on his part to give us a negative rating, since we took no payments from him , made no false offers to him and above all gave him a transparent feedback.
Regarding his allegation that we have false address, I can only say that he is falsifying,misrepresenting, and hallucinating things.
34 Old Cannought Place has been my family residence for 3 generations and I receive all my mail at this address only.
If Mr.Jakhmola does not know how to ask for directions or probably never even came to the address, is serious problem, and I would recommend him to have serious psychological counselling.
I am very concerned about his welfare.Poor thing.

On Jun 4, 2005 4:59 AM, Gautam Global added:

In my recent communications with Anshu, I have found him to be a delightful person with a passion for plantsl ike all of us at Dave's garden.I am eagerly looking forward to my meeting with him.Owing to wrong directions, he could not meet me earlier, I will be seeing him soon now."

On october 2003 I ordered seeds of Polyalthia Longifolia. I sent payment by Western Union and the cashed it. They told me they sent the seeds by regular mail but I did not received. I continue asking Gautam but he did not answer my e-mail that I sent more than 4 times.

On October 19th, 2004, rigu changed the rating from negative to positive and added the following:

Some weeks ago I received and e-mail from Gautam because of the negative reference on this forum. They explained that seeds were sent as per my instructions. I told them I needed the seed and I would send them money for covering courrier expenses. They told me they will resend seeds at their cost. I received the seeds today. I felt they care about my complain and they gave me a solution.